LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD COMMUTER’S COUNCIL
MINUTES OF JULY 1, 2010
A meeting of the Long Island Rail Road Commuter’s Council (LIRRCC) was convened at 4:30 pm on July 1, 2010, in the 5th Floor conference room, Jamaica Control Center.
The following members were present:
• Ira Greenberg
• Sheila Carpenter
• Matthew Kessler
• Mark Epstein
• Larry Rubinstein
• Owen Costello
• Maureen Michaels
The following member was absent:
• Gerard P. Bringmann
In addition, the following persons were present:
• William Henderson -PCAC Executive Director
• Janice Wells -PCAC Associate Director
• Ellyn Shannon -PCAC Transportation Planner
• Hector Garcia -LIRR
Approval of Agenda and Minutes
The agenda for the July 1, 2010 meeting was approved. The minutes of the May 13, 2010 meeting were approved.
Chair’s Report
Maureen Michaels gave the Chair’s Report. A copy of the written report is attached to these minutes.
Hector Garcia said that the Transportation Department has started a program to give out awards to conductors who make excellent announcements on the trains.
Ms. Michaels said that she would like the Council to get a new logo and proposed that one might be produced through a student competition at a local college. Larry Rubinstein said that he will look into having a new logo designed and report back to the Council.
Board Report
Mr. Greenberg reported that Pat Foye has been named the Nassau County member of the MTA Board. Mr. Foye has previously served as the Downstate Coordinator of the Empire State Development Corporation and as the CEO of the United Way of Long Island. He is currently on the staff of the Nassau County Executive.
He also said that the LIRR has agreed to let him see the Main Line Corridor Draft Environmental Impact Statement in his capacity as an MTA Board member. Mr. Greenberg noted that he has received a confidentiality agreement to sign before viewing the document and that no date for the viewing has been set.
Mr. Greenberg reported the Capital Program has been approved, as no Capital Program Review Board member exercised his veto power.
Mr. Greenberg reported that there is an effort in progress to have the two MTA commuter railroads report performance indicators in the same way.
Old Business
Ms. Michaels talked about the committees she has established for the Council. She said that members of the committees should discuss issues in their area among themselves and report the results of their discussions back to the full LIRRCC. She said that the committees are not intended to take action on behalf of the Council and that any meetings that the committees want to have with LIRR personnel must be cleared through Bill Henderson.
Mark Epstein reported that a banister has been missing at the Wyandanch station. He said they put up yellow caution tape but the banister has not yet been replaced. Mr. Epstein said he saw a construction crew working on the parking lot, but they did not do anything with regards to the banister. Mr. Garcia indicated that the parking lot does not belong to the LIRR and the workers were not likely from the LIRR. He said that people steal the banisters to sell them for scrap and that this might have been the cause of the missing banister. Mr. Epstein expressed disappointment that no wooden temporary replacement had been installed, in view of the safety issues created in relation to the missing banister. Ms. Carpenter said that as of 3:15 p.m. that day, no repairs had been made.
Mr. Greenberg said there has been pigeon prevention work that begun at the Woodside station.
Mr. Epstein asked about the status of the Hicksville parking lots. Ms. Michaels said that the Hicksville station is crumbling. Mr. Garcia said that the Hicksville Chamber of Commerce and the town of Oyster Bay are both undertaking economic development studies focusing on the station and surrounding parking areas.
New Business
Mr. Rubinstein said that the LIRR put out an advisory on alternative travel paths for Oyster Bay line customers travel following the recent storm that disrupted service. He said that the directions for some stations were reasonable but that they also stated that the Oyster Bay station could be reached from the Main Line by a short cab ride, when in fact that ride costs about $27 and takes about 15 minutes.
Owen Costello noted that during this storm, there was no update on service posted on the MTA web site. He also noted that signing up for the email alerts through the MTA website is not very user friendly.
Sheila Carpenter noted that the women’s room at Jamaica station is still a disaster. She noted the restroom in the AirTrain area is much better because there is an attendant there. She said the big problem is that there are not sufficient cleaning crews for Jamaica.
Ms. Carpenter also reported that many station houses are locked up after the morning rush period. Many stations have large numbers of people in the evenings. Ms. Michaels said this issue will be added to the tracking report list and that the Council would work on this. Mr. Garcia said that any changes to this situation would start with modifying the hours of a few stations and that the LIRR would choose these stations. He said that changes are difficult because of the schedules of cleaning crews and because the LIRR wants to open the station in a clean state.
In response to Mr. Epstein’s question whether the Council is going to comment on the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), Mr. Henderson said he would consult with Ellyn Shannon because this is her responsibility.
Mr. Epstein suggested that the Council ask the LIRR if we could post items on station bulletin boards.
In response to Mr. Rubinstein’s question about putting announcements about short cars on station signage, Mr. Garcia said that he has a meeting scheduled with the LIRR IT department to see how they can post the actual number of cars of a train on the sign rather than just stating “short train”. Mr. Epstein noted that this information is already posted at the Wyandanch station. Ms. Michaels noted that Penn Station has a different system than the outlying stations.
Mr. Rubinstein said that LIRR conductors must be more accommodating to Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs). He said that there was a call for assistance, and as he is an EMT he went to assist a rider who was in cardiac arrest. He said that the conductor failed to clear the car and that the ambulance crew arriving at the scene had trouble getting through the car with their medical equipment. Mr. Garcia said that the crews all get mandatory medical training. Ms. Michaels said the Council’s safety committee will look into this issue.
Owen Costello reported that this is the third time he is asking that mops and buckets get put away at the Port Washington station. He can see them sitting across from the platform. He also said that there has been trash on the right-of-way as you enter the station and it has been there for twenty years. He also reported that that at the west end of the Port Washington station, the handrails on the stairway have become loosened.
Businesses have encroached on the right-of-way including those at 102-103 Haven Avenue and 100 Haven Avenue. He said that they are landscape contractors who are building walls of railroad ties on the right-of-way. This is definitely a safety issue as the walls could collapse.
Mr. Garcia explained that the LIRR has a plan to clean up the right of way. He went with the engineers to see the problems with debris and litter on the right-of-way. He said there is a right-of-way cleaning group, which is responsible for picking up light litter, tree trimming and paving. There are eighteen people in this group. Mr. Garcia made it clear that this group is not responsible for removing used railroad ties or any heavy materials left on the right-of-way. He noted that the heavier materials are taken care of by maintenance of way crews when they are available. He said that the LIRR has created a new joint crew who will perform a heavy cleaning one day a week at Jamaica before the Jamaica Capacity Improvement project gets underway.
Ms. Michaels said that between Hicksville/Syosset on the north side of the tracks, there is a great deal of debris and asked if the railroad ties and other materials there will be removed. She also restated her long standing complaint about the improper disposal of water bottles and other litter by LIRR crews. Mr. Garcia said that work rules sometimes prevent the LIRR from requiring their workers to take their litter with them when they leave an area.
The members discussed plans for an August meeting. Mr. Henderson said that the staff had been thinking about a field trip to a maintenance facility, as there was interest in seeing the LIRR’s diesel shops. The members asked if they could get a tour of the control center at Penn Station and then have a brief meeting at the Penn station transportation conference room. Mr. Garcia said that he would see if this is possible. Mr. Henderson said the details of the August meeting will be emailed to the members.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 6:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Karyl Berger
Research Associate